- Joined
- Mar 18, 2006
- Messages
- 2
- Reaction score
- 0
For students thinking about future practice and life options, one important consideration is where to live. Whether you prefer the mountains or the beach, the city or town you choose to reside in should be your choice, not default housing that's located near a WalMart.
Optometry is a state legislated profession, meaning that the scope of practice in every state is is little different. ODs in some states can use some meds that ODs in other states can't. Likewise, some newer procedures that are taught in optometry school cannot be performed in some states until the enabling legislation is updated to reflect the higher levels of expertise of the optometrists. MDs don't have to go through this.
In order to get a feel for the state of optometry in various states throughout the country, you can start by visiting their association websites. The state organizations represent the optometrists in that state and are the primary forces behind updating legislation to promote and protect optometry. The state organizations tend to be led by a group of dynamic individuals who put the wellbeing of the profession above just about everything else. Membership is not like belonging to a club. It is acknowledging the responsibility that we all have to to our profession and the patients we care for. Each member individually helps shape the future of optometry. As a large force, our voices and actions are significant and cannot be ignored. Unfortunately, there has alway been a small percentage of ODs who have never embraced the collective energy of the group and have chosen not to join the state associations and remain isolated in their professional settings. Their complacency hurts our profession in the long run. Optometry has been evolving ever since it began. Staying connected to the pulse of a changing profession is a requirement of every OD. Membership in state optometry organizations will do just that.
The best way to discover the inner workings of a state organization is to become a student member. Membership fees are often a token amount, yet student members have full access to newsletters, practice and job opportunity listings, continuing education seminars and the web boards and listservs that state organizations use to keep all of their members in touch with each other. State membership also includes membership in the AOA ( www.aoa.org ), which represents optometry on a nationwide basis.
I'm from Connecticut and our site, www.cteyes.org , has a tremendous amount of information to offer members. The time to look at these sites is while you are a student and before you regret ending up somewhere you never expected to be.
Optometry is a state legislated profession, meaning that the scope of practice in every state is is little different. ODs in some states can use some meds that ODs in other states can't. Likewise, some newer procedures that are taught in optometry school cannot be performed in some states until the enabling legislation is updated to reflect the higher levels of expertise of the optometrists. MDs don't have to go through this.
In order to get a feel for the state of optometry in various states throughout the country, you can start by visiting their association websites. The state organizations represent the optometrists in that state and are the primary forces behind updating legislation to promote and protect optometry. The state organizations tend to be led by a group of dynamic individuals who put the wellbeing of the profession above just about everything else. Membership is not like belonging to a club. It is acknowledging the responsibility that we all have to to our profession and the patients we care for. Each member individually helps shape the future of optometry. As a large force, our voices and actions are significant and cannot be ignored. Unfortunately, there has alway been a small percentage of ODs who have never embraced the collective energy of the group and have chosen not to join the state associations and remain isolated in their professional settings. Their complacency hurts our profession in the long run. Optometry has been evolving ever since it began. Staying connected to the pulse of a changing profession is a requirement of every OD. Membership in state optometry organizations will do just that.
The best way to discover the inner workings of a state organization is to become a student member. Membership fees are often a token amount, yet student members have full access to newsletters, practice and job opportunity listings, continuing education seminars and the web boards and listservs that state organizations use to keep all of their members in touch with each other. State membership also includes membership in the AOA ( www.aoa.org ), which represents optometry on a nationwide basis.
I'm from Connecticut and our site, www.cteyes.org , has a tremendous amount of information to offer members. The time to look at these sites is while you are a student and before you regret ending up somewhere you never expected to be.
